Various people felt reminded, for not always perfectly clear reasons, of amongst others Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits, Birthday Party, Kraftwerk, Can, the Fall, Marlene Dietrich, the Ramones, Frank Zappa, David Bowie.
What we think is that we have one foot in the folk/country tradition of writing simple, lyrical, short songs, the other in the punk/jazz/avantgarde line with the occasional odd time signature, rhythm or chord.
'glassglue offer quirky tunes, backing the words of Marcel Stoetzler. The words grab & hold your attention. Marcel is striking visually and it's as if the son of Max Wall had become a German philosopher and was now walking amongst us to simultaneously bewitch and baffle with his musings. ... Glassglue are Brecht/Weill for the 21st Century. ... I really enjoy their live performances & think they'd be great on a double bill with Fraff.
These are the tracks on their single:
if I were the sky right now - The lolloping rhythm backs twittering guitar, intermittently cutting out as if being played through a Norman Collier faulty microphone. Marcel lurches in, and it's obvious that this isn't a romantic sky analogy. Rather one and three quarter minutes of song are used to convey a disturbed oblique comment on someone's feelings about someone else. The conflict between the voice tone and rhythm add to the freaky feeling. Somehow it all gels into a logical package.
spiral stair - The title makes me think of Escher optical illusion paintings of stairs going endlessly down or up depending which way you're looking. The plodding verse emphasises the endless walking theme but gives way to a psychedelic distorting organ sound. Afterwards Marcel's vocals creep back and whisper in your ear like a demented German Gainsbourg.
... glassglue, whilst potentially being bracketed as having a similar impact to the Mothers Of Invention, are actually much more engaging because their quirky music is not drawn out and is both genuinely imaginative and highly listenable.'
(artrocker [parsley's commlock], december 2008)
'Little is known about GLASSGLUE, which adds somewhat to the enigma of their peculiar number 'Spiral Stair' ... This is certainly one of the more intriguing offerings in the Pigeon mailbag - spacious, slightly creepy, with the best use of the sound of a reversing coach ever committed to disc.' (The Stool Pigeon 17, Summer 2008)
'ooof genius... you are unexpected and wonderful like an onix treasure in a can of spaghetti hoops.' (Nomi of the dogbones)
'Glassglue can play gently, appreciate soft, quiet moments and radiate a delightfully elegant froideur, plus Marcel Stoetzler (nice name) knows how to use his voice. Yes, they're a bunch of guys who've got over testosterone and they're not scared of keyboards.' (David Gleeson, remotegoat 28/03/08)
'Four crazed surgeons spaz out in the operating theatre. The patient is re-piped in a surgical steal nightmare. Glassglue is the result of a car crash involving Captain Beefheart and Kraftwerk. This is a stylised, clinical, art murder in cold blood. One listen will challenge your existence. You will not enjoy your time in the hospital. You were not supposed to. You can not judge this type of surgery. 95/100' (Peter Hitchings, Spill May 2006)
'Eddie Argos aside, there have been very few takers for the epithet 'The New Vivian Stanshall' over the last four years, but in vocalist Marcel Stoetzler, London's Glassglue may have unearthed him. Throughout these five tracks, he holds fort with a half-theatrical, half-knowing line in delivery and patter, whilst Matthew Karas, Gianluca Galetti and Emyr Tomos stagger with poise around the margins of time signatures. The rhythmically challenging likes of 'I Ain't Gonna Steal Your Time No More' suggest they could collapse at any moment, but somehow don't, and to generally great effect. Don Van Vliet would be very proud. That one idea runs through this entire offering, suggesting a broadening of the palette will be needed for one day, but this time out they've clearly achieved their objective of being the centre of attention.'
(Rory McNamara, takingnotes.org.uk September 2006)
a review of our first demo:
'ya see its all about what ya see from the corner of ya eye with these east london dwelling musical doom-jazz folk. Though saying that, first track, out of my sight... is quite a jolly number in comparison.. though as the words flow, so does the beginning of a long a slow sinking feeling that all is not well with these people.
"she is evasive.. like the shadow of a fly.....", pretty much breaks my heart every time... coming on like the velvets, all plodding bass and swooning organ.... sweet, sweet like an old person, ya wouldnt wanna get too deep incase they bust out with something that will destroy ya entire world perception.
Marcel Stoetzler would appear to be going through some kind of self analysis stage of his life, track 3 (and my absolute fave) is a fantastic piece of equal amounts self parody and woe... never have the words "sometimes i find myself embarrassing to be with..." been uttered in such a way that it isnt the last thing he says before necking a bottle of valium, instead he sings it like its o.k.... which of course, it entirely is.
queue cascading piano and tales dripping with more end of the line realisation.. HOME talks of residing in a tomb.... jazz style.... again ya dont believe he..s having much trouble dealing with the dark feelings he talks of, i wouldnt be surprised if the vocals are all actually excerpts from a sunday morning church confession....
This cd is only 10 mins long, and i like that.... instead of dragging out these ugly little gems they come across like a straight to the point diagnosis.. tell it how it is and get the fook out before someone questions it... sitting and being given a quick run down on how bad things could be with my morning cup of tea has become quite an uplifting ritual since i found an early recording of these chaps on my door step last spring, in the form of a cassette (which was a welcome surprise in itself) with words... "we are from round here, and want to play..." scrawled on it.' (by Jake of 'class a audio', who used to live in Clapton back then and organized one of our first gigs...)
On July 17th, incite/ will perform in London the first time in almost two and a half years! The performance will be on a DarkFiber (aka AV Social) night at the BFI Southbank. The event centers around the 40 anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, featuring first men landing on the moon. We have prepared a new track that..s just ready to be premiered on this occasion.
Also presented this night: a film remix of George Lucas' first film THX1138 by Oli Sorenson and Dan Tait plus a variety of space-related screenings featuring Semiconductor and others. (10pm, free entrance)
Would be fantastic to meet if you happen to be around! Kera + André
24 Apr 2009, 20:30 - Club Integral @ The Canterbury Arms, Canterbury Arms, Canterbury Crescent, 2 minutes from Brixton tube. London, SW9 UK £5 before 9.00/£7 after Featuring Patten, Glassglue, The Nobodies and The Sibylling Sisters (Sibyl Madrigal, Kay Grant and Armorel Weston). Entry £5 before 9.00 PM/£7 after. Doors open 8.30 until late. DJ Chris Cornett/projections by Jaime Rory Lucy of Rucksack Cinema. Info: www.divineagency.org/www.myspace.com/clubintegral. - Patten " ...the listener is drawn into a simplified world of ordered purposeful harmony, as microscopic in its exquisite detail as the music of the spheres is vast and expansive in its wonder" Wire magazine - Glassglue "vocalist Marcel Stoetzler... holds fort with a half-theatrical, half-knowing line in delivery and patter, whilst Matthew Karas, Gianluca Galetti and Emyr Tomos stagger with poise around the margins of time signatures." Takingnotes.org.uk The Nobodies "The Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir des nos jours.... tragic, haunting and very funny". Resonance Radio
I love it! I love it! This is fabulous Thank you so much for the CD! Please look at my other www. myspace. com/dearbritch (I'll add you) and my friend Andy's band www. myspace. com/vileimbeciles, you might just like them a lot of a bit, i mean a bit of a lot, or do i? Anyway, pleasure to meet you and hope to share a bill with you someday (as in running order, not utility).
might have a manchester show i will need help with end of jan. would be awesome for glass glue to play. i will message you accordingly. stay safe this winter! x